FAMILY & IMMIGRATION

Strengthening Family Connections

LawLink: Family Safety and Stability strives to help individuals struggling to recover from domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or abandonment achieve safety and financial security. By breaking legal and financial ties with the abuser, clients move towards economic self-sufficiency and gain the ability to create positive and safe home environments for themselves and their children.

Because the need for family law help is extremely high, we give priority to persons needing legal help to recover from domestic violence, sexual assault, or abandonment by a spouse upon whom they depended for survival. In addition, we assist immigrants who have been victims of family violence, human trafficking and other crimes, and immigrant children in need of care, to obtain stable immigration status.

Our goal is to provide holistic representation by addressing all of the legal problems that a client may have as a result of family abuse to ensure as full a recovery as possible.

Family Law Cases that we handle:

• Civil Protection Orders for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking (by a family member or someone else).
• Divorce and custody cases for victims of abuse or where children are at risk of abuse.
• Divorce cases for persons who – due to advanced age, disability or other barrier – are unable to support themselves without court-ordered financial support from their spouse.
• In partnership with the Volunteer Lawyer’s Project, the “Uncontested Divorce Clinic” for simple divorces with no minor children, no assets or debts, and no claim for spousal support.

Immigration Cases that we handle:

• Help for immigrants who are married to an abusive spouse who is a US citizen or permanent resident.
• “U Visas” and “T Visas” for persons who have been victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, or other serious crimes.
• “Special Immigrant Juvenile Status” for immigrant children who are present in the US and in need of care due to the absence of one or both parents.
• For more information about guaranteed basic rights regardless of citizenship status, read “Know Your Rights: Prepare Your Family for Immigration Enforcement.” 
• For information on immigration scams and how to avoid them, read Protect Yourself from Immigration Scammers.